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Krause found competent to stand trial

Man charged in Groton killings remains held at Bridgewater

By Robert Mills, rmills@lowellsun.com

Updated:
10/21/2017 07:00:41 AM EDT

Attorney Edward Wayland, at left, stands by Orion Krause, 22, of Maine, at a hearing over Krause's competency to stand trial on four counts of murder Friday in Ayer District Court. See video at lowellsun.com.
SUN / Robert Mills

AYER -- Orion Krause, the 22-year-old Maine man accused of using a baseball bat to kill his mother, maternal grandparents and a home health aide who worked for his grandparents, opted to appear in an Ayer courtroom Friday as he was found competent to stand trial on four counts of murder.

Krause could have waived his appearance in the courtroom, but opted to be present, according to his attorney Edward Wayland.

Wayland said an evaluation conducted at Bridgewater State Hospital, where Krause has been held since shortly after his arrest on Sept. 8, determined Krause is competent to stand trial, though that could change from day to day depending on his condition.

Wayland filed a motion, which was approved by Judge Margaret Guzman, to continue having Krause held in Bridgewater as the case moves forward.

"I think it's the best place for him," Wayland said, indicating that Krause can continue to receive treatment and medications while at the state-run hospital.

Krause remained silent as he sat in court and observed the hearing while dressed in a gray sweater with glasses hanging from a strap around his neck. He alertly followed the brief proceeding, but remained expressionless.

Though Krause was found competent to stand trial, Wayland declined to comment on whether his client is mentally ill.

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Wayland said it's still too early to say what Krause's defense may be as the case remains under investigation and as Wayland awaits additional information regarding the case. He declined to comment on whether he may pursue an insanity defense.

Wayland said Krause's father, Alexander Krause, has been able to meet with his son in Bridgewater, but nevertheless attended Friday's hearing so he could see his son.

"He does still love him," Wayland said after speaking with Alexander Krause in a hallway outside the courtroom.

Orion Krause, 22, of Maine, looks toward the floor during a hearing on his competency to stand trial on four counts of murder on Friday in Ayer District Court.
SUN / Robert Mills

Wayland said Krause is housed with other prisoners in Bridgewater and is not being kept in isolation, but he said it was difficult to describe how his client is faring there. He said Krause has been medicated during his stay in Bridgewater, but that he could not say what types of medication he was given.

Krause, who graduated from the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio earlier this year, has seemed alert and interested in court proceedings.

"He's a very smart person," Wayland said. "He was getting straight A's at Oberlin not too long ago."

Prosecutors have said Krause disappeared from his family home in Rockport, Maine, on the evening of Sept. 7, prompting his mother to contact local police there. But on the morning of Sept. 8, Krause called his mother and reported he was "fine" and in the Greater Boston area, District Attorney Marian Ryan has said.

Krause asked his mother to give him a ride home, so she traveled to this area, picked him up, and decided to visit her parents at their home at 80 Common St., in Groton, according to Ryan.

What may have prompted the killings at that home remains unclear. Police reports say Krause appeared at the door of Wagner Alcocer, at 42 Common St., about 5:55 p.m., and told Alcocer, as well as a responding police officer, that he killed four people, according to police reports.

Krause was naked and covered in small cuts at time, and briefly spoke with a responding police officer as he sat on Alcocer's porch wrapped in a blanket.

Police reports say Krause told the officer that he killed his mother, maternal grandparents and a home health-care worker with a baseball bat.

Police reports say a police officer was within earshot of Krause as he sat on Alcocer's porch and began to sing quietly before saying, "I freed them."

Krause stopped speaking to police once he was read his Miranda rights, according to police reports.

After Krause told an officer about the killings, police responded to 80 Common St., and found a gruesome scene.

Three victims, who were suffering from obviously fatal trauma, were found in the home's kitchen, while a fourth victim was found in a flower bed near the home's driveway, according to police reports, parts of which are too graphic to be reported in print.

Ryan has identified the victims as Krause's mother, Elizabeth Krause, of Rockport, Maine; Krause's maternal grandparents, Elizabeth Lackey, 85, and Frank Lackey, 85, both of whom lived at 80 Common St.; and Bertha Mae Parker, 68, of Groton, who was the Lackey's home health-care worker.

Police who searched the area around the home using canines found clothing, a cell phone with blood on it, and a bloody baseball bat nearby, according to police reports.

Wayland, who opposed motions from The Sun and Boston Globe to make police reports connected to the case available to the public, on the grounds that they could prejudice potential jurors, has previously asked that people keep an open mind about what may have happened.

"No one should make any assumptions about anything he is alleged to have said, including that an of it was actually true," Wayland has said. "Determining the truth is what the legal process is designed to do, and it has barely begun to do it."

Krause's case in Ayer District Court was continued until Dec. 15 when a status hearing will be held, but Assistant District Attorney Tom Brant told Guzman the case will soon be presented to a grand jury.

Wayland said that means the case may move to Middlesex Superior Court before the Dec. 15 hearing.

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